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Evidence of the compensation culture?

I’ve recently come across the following video. The message itself is somewhat confused in that it starts by commenting on an attack that was launched on a defendant lawyer and then somehow uses this to support arguments concerning there being a “compensation culture”. Nevertheless, I present it here as it at least gives something of the public perception of lawyers:

A more detailed review of the original story appeared in an article in The Telegraph (link to external site). Whatever one’s view of the pleural plaques litigation, an attack on a solicitor involved in the test cases from MPs and fellow solicitors is extraordinary.

The law as it currently stands in relation to pleural plaques litigation has led to a reduction in the amount of work that my firm would otherwise handle. We deal with a significant amount of asbestos litigation for defendants and pleural plaques work previously represented a sizeable proportion of that work. Nevertheless, for what it’s worth, I think the House of Lords was correct to find that pleural plaques was not an injury for which compensation should be awarded. However, I am never able to get out of my mind the suspicion that those claimant lawyers who campaign for a change in the law in this area, and argue that a terrible injustice has been done, are actually primarily concerned with the potential fees they have lost rather than the “injured”.